The present invention relates to a windshield wiper.
Windshield wipers may have a wiper arm, which may be made up of a driven mounting part and a hinge member, which may be connected to it via a hinged joint. The mounting part and the hinged part may have a u-shaped cross-section profile that is open toward the vehicle windshield. Additional components may be located in the interior space of the profile. Located in the interior space of the cross-section profile of the hinge member, for instance, may be an extention spring, which may prestress the hinge member with the mounting part. In some exemplary embodiments, water lines and/or spray nozzles of a windshield-washer system may also be accommodated in the u-shaped cross-section profile of the hinge member.
A hinge member is discussed in German Published Patent Application No. 198 15 171 in which the front area of the integrated wiper rod is folded over several times and bent in the shape of a hook. This may require several method steps in the manufacture. Furthermore, exposing galvanized sheet material to heavy 180xc2x0 bending may carry a risk that the tin coating will tear and/or detach in the heavily deformed areas. Furthermore, due to the low height of the material accumulation in the area of the hook, the moment of resistance against bending and torsion may be relatively low, so that the wiper rod may elastically deform in response to pressure, and may tend to rattle.
The wiper blade may be equipped with a bracket assembly and a wiper strip retaining it. The hook of the wiper rod may engage with a retaining spring, which may be mounted by an open hub on a hinge pin of a center clip of the bracket assembly and may be used as an adapter and bearing part between the wiper strip and the wiper blade. The hinge formed in this manner and the bracket assembly may allow the wiper strip to adapt to a curvature of the vehicle windshield. In order to laterally guide the wiper blade, the retaining spring, on the one side, may be guided along its lateral walls between two side flanges of the center clip and, on the other side, along the lateral surfaces of the engaged wiper rod. However, the lateral surfaces may be relatively small. Therefore, they may be subjected to high loads and may wear out quickly, so that the wiping quality may rapidly decrease due to poor guidance of the wiper blade.
In order to exchange a worn wiper blade, the wiper blade may be rotated at an approximately 90xc2x0 angle, and the retaining spring may be pulled out of the hook in a longitudinal direction. This may be awkward, such as, for example, with relatively long hooks, since the installation space for sliding the rotated wiper blade in the longitudinal direction toward the vehicle windshield may be limited.
The German Published Patent Application No. 195 37 854, discusses joining a wiper arm and a wiper blade using a retaining spring. At least one finger, angled in the direction of the vehicle windshield at the free end of the wiper rod, may engage in a positive locking manner with a corresponding guide shaft of the retaining spring. In the guide shaft, the bent finger may be retained by an automatic detent device, which may be preformed on the retaining spring. A slight rotation may be sufficient to exchange the wiper blade, enabling the detent device to be unlocked and the wiper blade to be easily slid off the wiper-arm end in the direction of the vehicle windshield. However, the wiper rod and the preformed finger may be made of flat coiled stock, the material thickness determining the small size of the lateral guide surfaces, and may have a low moment of resistance in response to bending and torsion.
According to an exemplary embodiment; of the present invention, a u-shaped cross-section profile of the hinge member may extend to the free end of the wiper rod, and individual crosspieces may be formed in the end region. In side flanges of the cross-section profile lying across from one another, at least one of these crosspieces of at least one crosspiece pair may have a flap angled toward the inside, a retaining spring engaging between the crosspieces of a pair of crosspieces with a plug pointing in the longitudinal direction, and locking into place on the wiper rod. Due to the continuous u-profile, the hinge member configured in one piece with the wiper rod, may have a high bending and torsion rigidity, as a result of which the wiper blade may be guided across the vehicle windshield at a relatively constant setting angle, regardless of the operating conditions. This may result in good wiping outcomes. Because of the increased bending and torsion rigidity of the u-profile, the sheet metal thickness may be reduced if desired, so that the weight and the material cost of the wiper arm may also be reduced.
Furthermore, the production may be simplified and costs may be saved, since the hinge member may be produced from one sheet metal cut in two bending steps and, in some instances, one calibration step. At the same time, other regions of the wiper arm may be produced during the bending of the edges of the metal sheets, such as the areas that may be later required for attaching the extension spring. The bending angle may be limited to no larger than 90xc2x0 in any region, so that no extreme deformations may occur and no danger may arise that the protective layer of the coated materials detaches or tears at the bending points. Therefore, galvanized sheet metal panels or also other materials, such as aluminum, may be used without problems.
On the hinge member, the lateral outer surfaces of the crosspieces and the adjoining u-shaped wiper rod may form larger guide surfaces with respect to the retaining spring than other wiper rods having a hook-shaped end. Furthermore, the guidance may be improved by the plug, which may engage with the cavity between the crosspieces of a crosspiece pair by a slight slide fit or press fit. As a result, a sturdy connection may be simultaneously created between the retaining spring and the wiper rod. The improved guidance of the wiper blade may have a positive effect on the wiping quality, the rattling tendency of the wiper blade may be reduced when little moisture is present on the vehicle windshield.
In order to secure the retaining spring between the crosspieces in the axial direction, it may be provided with a stop spring, which, in the mounted state, may lock into the front side of a crosspiece or a flap. To disassemble the wiper blade, the riveting pin of the wiper blade may be pulled out of the open hub of the retaining spring, or the wiper blade may be disassembled from the wiper rod together with the retaining spring. For this purpose, the wiper blade may be slightly rotated with respect to the wiper arm, which may suffice to reach and disengage the stop spring. The wiper blade may then be slid in the longitudinal direction until the crosspiece pairs on the wiper rod slide off the plugs. In a last disassembly step, the retaining spring may be pulled vertically out from the wiper arm.
The assembly may be done in the reverse order and may also be accomplished in only two directions by an automatic detent device; no additional tools may be required. In this manner, an incorrect assembly of components or scratching by the use of unsuitable tools may be avoided. In the described assembly or disassembly, the retaining spring may be preinstalled on the wiper blade and exchanged together with the wiper blade, so that a material may be used that is less prone to wear and may approximately ensure the service life of the wiper blade.
It may also be premounted on the wiper rod and may be required to have a correspondingly longer service life, which may be assured by a longer-wearing material.
This approach may be used in windshield wipers having a continuous configuration, since no openings may be required as mounting aids, and the wiper arm may cover most of the retaining spring and the opening in the center clip toward the exterior.